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English From Zero · Level Starter · Lesson 9

🤝 This Is My Friend! — Nationalities, And & But

Today you will learn how to introduce a friend informally, the names of nationalities, and how to connect ideas with "and" and "but".

🎬 Let's Imagine...

Leo Introduces A New Friend

Read the little scene below.

LeoNora, this is my friend Mia. She's from Italy!
NoraHi Mia! How's it going? Are you Italian?
🧑‍🏫 Teacher SamiNice introduction, Leo! Today we'll learn how to introduce a friend, the names of nationalities like "Italian", and two little connecting words: "and" and "but"!

🤔 Do you know how to say "Italy" as a nationality? Let's find out!

A boy introduces a new girl to another girl who waves hello in a schoolyard
🖼️ Click the image to zoom in
Step 1

🤝 Introducing A Friend Informally

Use "This is..." to introduce a friend informally.

Introduce A Friend

  • "Leo, this is Mia. Mia, this is Leo."
  • "Nora, this is my friend, Mia."

Add Extra Information

  • "This is my friend, Mia. She's from Italy."
  • "This is my friend, Mia. She lives in Rome."

👋 Use "How's it going?" as an informal greeting. It means the same as "How are you?", but it doesn't always need an answer!

Step 2

🌍 Countries And Nationalities

We use a noun for the country, and an adjective for the nationality. Click a country to reveal (and hear) its nationality!

👉 Click a country above!
Five diverse children hold small colorful flag pennants together in a classroom
🖼️ Click the image to zoom in
Step 3

🔗 Grammar — "And" vs. "But"

Use "and" to connect two ideas that are similar. Use "but" to connect two ideas that are different.

"And" — Similar Ideas

  • "Léa is Australian, and Marco is, too."
  • "There are a lot of pencils, and a new poster."

"But" — Different Ideas

  • "Kenji is Japanese, but he lives in Italy."
  • "She's from Paris, but she lives in New York."

Punctuation rule: when you connect two full sentences with "and" or "but", put a comma (,) right after the first sentence: "There is a desk, but there is no chair."

🔗 Connect It!

Pick "and" or "but" to complete each sentence correctly.

🎧 Sound Lab

Listen And Repeat!

Click 🔊 Listen to hear the phrase, 🐢 Slowly to hear it slower, then 🎙️ My turn and say it out loud into your microphone!

Step 4

✍️ Practice Time!

Exercise 1 — True Or False?

Exercise 2 — Complete The Dialogue

Fill in the missing word in each line of the conversation.

Step 5 · Extraordinary!

🎭 Create & Record Your Own Dialogue

Imagine you're introducing a new friend to your classmate! Write a short dialogue using "This is...", a nationality, and "and" or "but".

This is my friend...How's it going? She's/He's from...She's/He's [nationality] ..., and......, but...

🎙️ Now, Record It!

Act out your dialogue out loud (alone with both voices, or with a friend) and record yourselves. Then listen back!